The Hunter's Mission
by Nightglade
Summary: He came to kill them all, but never expected it would break him inside. [AU]


**JJ: There hasn't been changed a lot in this piece from the older version you'll find on FF. Just some sentences at the end. Still, the ending is less clichéd. (smile) This piece will eventually become part of a larger collection.** **Disclaimer Guy: Juju doesn't own any rights. She'd like to change some things in the manga though.**

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**_Please aim slow _**  
**_I know, it's not like you_**  
**_To take a fall_**  
**_For anyone but yourself_**  
**_Let me show you a world_**  
**_That you've never seen_**  
**_Let me help you unveil_**  
**_There is no time to waste_**  
**_When you find love you can't hesitate._**

_He'd kill them for sure this time._

Zero Kiryu gripped his Bloody Rose in reassurance as he struggled his way through the heaps of snow winter had bestowed on the misty mountain range. At the other end of the valley he could just make out the shape of the Kuran mansion. The sight brought forth a new surge of anger in him.

_First, he'd break that obnoxious Aido's neck._

A figure lunged at him from the shadows. It's scythe describing a wide arc that would end in Zero's vulnerable heart that thumped way too heart for his own liking. Yet Zero felt nothing but contempt as he unblinkingly stretched out his other arm to grip the sharp blade with his bare hand. The edge of the scythe protested as it came into contact with his hard preternatural flesh.

_After that, the beautiful but vain and spoiled Souen woman would be pierced by the very blade that refused to cut him._

In one swift motion Zero brought up his Bloody Rose and aimed to shoot the vampire who protected the estate, through the head. The trigger was pulled back easily as always. Zero didn't spoil any conscience on the murder of vampire vermin. Actually, he felt quite satisfied as his attacker let out a dying wail.

_Killing the two seemingly unfeeling models, Shiki and Toya, would be just as satisfying._

Of course, the cry had alerted the other vampires that came and went in the Kuran mansion. Their unrest brought a wry smile to Zero's lips as he was suddenly reminded as to why he shouldn't have left the pureblood family alive. No matter how many vampires he had slaughtered, they'd always be able to make more. The thought made him sick.

_Kain would be harder to take down as he was as much a warrior as Zero was._

Yes, Zero had to stop it. He had to stop the vile act of enslaving humans with an insatiable bloodlust that would drive them insane in the end. No one would fall victim to purebloods and their whims after he'd vanquished them. Then he'd start to exact his revenge on the aristocrats.

_Eventually Kain would fall too._

Who would dare to hold the Kiryu hunter back? Kaien Cross held no power over him anymore. The Hunter's Society had abandoned him and his petty school. Yagari was also very unlikely to try to stop him. Nobody in the Society would feel obliged to save the pureblood family. But to be sure, he'd commanded them to step back and they'd been forced to obey their president.

_The way to revenge was free._

Finally, the Hunter's President reached the recently renovated mansion and innocently raised his hand to knock on the thick wooden door. He would have never been able to break through it anyway. Though his sensitive hearing picked up the sound of footsteps on the other end. Zero readied himself to pounce on whoever it was that deemed it safe to open the door for him.

**_Step right up _**  
**_Shoot an arrow at the target_**  
**_My heart is an easy thing for you to hit_**  
**_Don't worry_**  
**_If you miss I'll let you shoot again_**  
**_My heart is an easy thing for you to win_**

_Or so he thought._

He'd never expected for her to come open the door, but she was there in all her glory. Eyes wine-red peered at him from their place in a lovely heart shaped face while luscious dark brown hair fell down her back. Yuki Kuran. A love that called to him from the far recesses of his anger clouded mind. Yet, he felt nothing.

_Everything went downhill from there._

Still the muscles he needed to just raise the Bloody Rose and shoot her down like the other pathetic vampire let him down, because her kind voice decided to call to him. Yuki Kuran desperately wanted to explain everything to her old friend. However, would that solve the crime he found she had committed? Helplessly, he followed her into the dark.

_He let fate take its course._

Kuran Mansion was as ever a fine piece of architecture. Over many centuries it had held secrets and complots buried in its catacombs. The smell of old and newer bloodshed filled his nostrils with an aroma like a siren's call. Zero tried to ignore it for he had tamed the beast long ago, but he was disturbed by it all the same. There was still blood on the pureblood princess that guided him through the halls.

_He could not forget that this woman had given life to another monster._

Kaname Kuran had always tried his best to manipulate him and Zero guessed that the smug look on his rival's face was only there to either spite him or drive him insane. Both attempts were very effective and if it hadn't been for Yuki who kept giving them warning glares, they might have had a brawl.

_Still something held the hunter back from utterly destroying them._

**_Let me show you a world _**  
**_That you've never seen_**  
**_Let me help you unveil_**  
**_What you meant to say_**  
**_There is no time to waste_**  
**_When you find love you can't hesitate_**

Now, his attention shifted to the faint heartbeat that resonated from the next room. It lured him closer with a melody full of life and promise. In it he hear his own unfulfilled potential – his potential for affection and love, which he'd both abandoned. Nothing could restore that kind of humanity in him.

_One moment he stood alone…_

Zero gripped the Bloody Rose tighter once more and readied himself to become the murderer of the newest member of the Kuran family. A murderer of children. Hesitantly, he stepped forward into the next room and took in the lustrous decorations Yuki and Kaname had bequeathed on their first-born's bedroom. His focus, however, was the crib that held the little lawbreaker. No pureblood should ever be born again.

_The next she was beside him…_

It happened the moment he looked into her eyes. The world that existed out of anger and hate seemed to slow down to a rhythm that matched the little vampire's heartbeat. Her eyes spoke of childlike innocence, not the monstrous quality that surrounded most purebloods. In that crucial moment he felt the drive to kill leave him.

_He was lost._

No, not really. Yuki held him up as his soul turned from vengeful to an empty husk without true meaning. Ready to be reshaped.

_Ready to love once again._

Zero Kiryu decided he would kill once again in the future, but not to hurt this fragile family. To protect them.

**_What could I say to you_**  
**_To let you know every day_**  
**_I am grateful_**  
**_I wish I could turn back time_**  
**_Or maybe rewind_**  
**_I would find you when we were younger_**  
**_So we could spend our time on earth together longer_**

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**JJ: **Please review and let me know what you think! It's super appreciated.


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